Tag: News

At Spiel in October, Michael Schäffer from the DMC sat down with Donald Reents from Chessex. The interview lasted 2 1/2 hours, and we’ll be releasing the information in parts. Part 1: Borealis was already published. This is Part 2: Test Sets.

At Gen Con in 2018, Chessex offered a line of ten new test set colors. The colors were only available at conventions, and the sales at those conventions among other factors would ultimately help Chessex determine which sets would go into regular production. There has been much speculation, but we now have official word from Chessex as to the fate of the Chessex sets. This article announces the sets that Chessex will produce in March; this article also provides insights into the different test sets and how they were chosen for production.

Test Color Background: Chessex developed Oxi-Copper’s green base color one to one and a half years ago. Water Lily, which was test color 207, has been around for seven to eight years. Sunburst was 297. These colors have existed as prototypes for quite some time, but Chessex haven’t produced them because of capacity issues.

Development: Donald from Chessex shared that the test sets were decided about two to two and a half months before their Gen Con debut. Donald actually said that he prefers to produce and sell the dice directly as opposed to producing test sets, but since Chessex’s production capacity was halted for awhile, Chessex wanted to get new colors out sooner to show that they were still producing new content.

Deciding: Chessex makes the decisions about test sets as they go rather than all at once. Sales have a major impact on what gets put into production, which is part of why Vortex Icy Blue won’t go to regular sales. Also, Vortex Icy Blue didn’t turned out as expected, another reason the set won’t go beyond the test version. Chessex decided that Vortex Navy Blue and Vortex Violet are too close to Phantom Teal and Festive Violet for regular production. Vortex Ice Blue has trouble with consistency during production plus looks somewhat like Mother of Pearl Blue, meaning it won’t go into regular production either.

Conclusion

Chessex will release four of the test colors in March of 2019. Chessex will produce Sunburst with Red Ink, Oxi-Copper, Festive Pop Art, and Water Lily. Two additional set colors, which were never released before as test sets, will also be released at the same time. Chessex will also produce Translucent Navy Blue at a later date. Test sets that will not be released include Sunburst with Black Ink, Vortex Icy Blue with Gold, Vortex Icy Blue with Red, Vortex Violet, and Vortex Navy Blue.

This year at Spiel on October 26, Michael Schäffer, admin for the Dice Maniacs Club, interviewed Donald Reents from Chessex and asked him member-submitted questions. The interview lasted about two and a half hours and was then transcribed by Paulina Drozdowska. The Dice Maniacs Club Blog will be publishing a multi-part story to relay the latest Chessex news and answers to DMC members’ questions about Chessex!

This is part one: Borealis.

A NEW Borealis Color? Perhaps the hottest news from Donald Reents is a new upcoming set for Borealis – a Maple Green color set for release in March of 2019. Rather than in the actual interview, this information was released by Donald in a follow-up e-mail to Michael. He explained that the effect is a “translucent green with a maple additive.” Though the run will technically be limited, Donald expects the quantities to last about 3-4 years of production, so it will not be technically designated as a limited run.

Old Glitter Unavailable: Confirmed. Donald provided further confirmation that the Borealis’s green sparkly pigment was discontinued because it began to be used in European currency. Chessex actually continued to produce borealis with the pigment for about 3 years longer than they would have been able to if they had ordered less of the pigment in bulk. Donald also mentioned that Chessex considered a more condensed Aquerple, but that the pricing of using that much of the pigment would make the retail about 40 Euros per die. Hmmm… 40 Euros a die for Aquerple… that sounds somehow familiar and reasonable now, doesn’t it? Haha!

Bye Forever Old Glitter? So is the old sparkly green borealis pigment gone forever? The bad news is that it’s likely a yes. Donald explained that if someone would have been able to replicate it, it would have happened already. But don’t lose heart entirely – Donald attends something called Fakuma, a trade show attended by the color pigment producers. They’re always on the lookout for pigments that look like old borealis. In fact, Donald mentioned that if they ever found pigment like the old one that they’d definitely try to bring back confetti, Aquerple, and clear borealis lines.

What About Current Borealis? What about the rumors that some of the current borealis are gone forever? Fortunately, that was just a rumor. Six of the seven colors were sold out and a little behind on reproduction. Donald explained that one of the varieties weren’t back until October. But the current Borealis options are still in production. They are still being produced: sky blue, light purple, royal purple, smoke, pink, teal, and light green.

Stay tuned for additional parts of the interview released, including a discussion of test colors, speckled dice, Chessex company info, and other fun dice news! We’re releasing this in pieces to keep the information easier to read than one massive article. At the end of the short series, we’ll provide the complete transcript for your viewing pleasure! A big thank you to Donald from Chessex for sharing company news with us, and thanks to Michael from the DMC for conducting the interview, Paulina for transcribing the content, and all of the DMCers who asked questions.

Q-Workshop announced a new variety of dragon dice coming soon.The teaser image showed a metallic gold dragon symbol on a black die with some green coloration.The new design is still currently being produced, but this is a great time to look at the dragon line from Q-Workshop, which according to a Q-Workshop representative, is “one of the most popular sets we’ve ever had.At the same time it’s one of our oldest models.”1
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The image gracing the box of Q-Workshop’s dragon line is by Anne Stoke’s and is “probably one of the most famous dragon images”1

Q-Workshop currently produces the dragon dice in five colors:white with black, black with white, red with black, black with red, and black with yellow.Anyone interested can order those directly from https://q-workshop.com/en/55-dragons

From Q-Workshop.com

However, for those of you seeking out previously produced color options, the hunt is a little more complicated.There are some full sets that have been confirmed by Q-Workshop1:

Set of White & Black Dragon Dice

Set of Black & Blue Dragon Dice

Set of Black & White Dragon Dice

Set of Black & Red Dragon Dice

Set of Black & Yellow Dragon Dice

Set of Red & White Dragon Dice

Set of Red & Black Dragon Dice

Set of Blue & Black Dragon Dice

Set of Yellow & Black Dragon Dice

Set of Gray & Black Dragon Dice

Set of Green & White Dragon Dice

Set of Green & Black Dragon Dice

Image by Liz Rushing

Image by Joss Hevel

Collectors might also want to track down some of the singles that slipped into loose bins and Q-Workshop bulk jars.These include a reddish-pink color with blue, of which a Q-Workshop representative said “Nope, we never had full sets like that. You may only be able to find [them] in jars.”Others, according to Q-Workshop, might be production errors2.

Image by Katona Kamilla

Image by Joel Fitzpatrick

In addition to the current sets, previously produced full sets, production errors, and samples, there are also Q-Workshop brand dragon dice with a slightly different logo dating back to 2004 according to Kevin Cook’s renowned dice database.Some of the singles and loose dice can be found there:http://www.dicecollector.com/THE_DICE_THEME_Q_WORKSHOP_DRAGON.html

Q-Workshop’s dragon line are a favorite for a reason. The engraved delicacy of the artwork connect with the fantasy backdrop of many RPGs with a quality that dice lovers and game players have come to expect from the brand. Though we weren’t lucky enough to get more of a sneak peak of the upcoming dragon line, we can’t wait to see more images! Stay tuned to Q-Workshop’s social media for further updates and images of the new dragon line: https://www.instagram.com/alldicetellastory & https://www.facebook.com/QWdice